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Early March will see the Democratic Primaries move to the industrial Midwest of the US. Ohio and Texas, with a combined strength of 334 delegates will hold Democratic Primaries on March 4. It is crucial for both the Democratic frontrunners, Sen. Bill Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, to record wins at these states. Rhode Island and Vermont will also hold primaries on the same day.
In the countdown to the March 4 Primaries, the issue of trade has quite predictably taken a front seat. The debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has become the highlight of the campaigns prior to the March 4 Democratic Primaries. NAFTA is believed to have cost thousands of laborers, mostly Democratic voters, their jobs in the industrial sector of Ohio.
Barack Obama has accused Clinton of changing her earlier stance on the NAFTA after getting into the Presidential campaign. He said that Clinton had been public in her support of the agreement, which was formalized during the Presidency of Bill Clinton. Clinton has negated the accusations laid on her by the Illinois senator. She said that the NAFTA was all but finalized before Bill Clinton's term in the office, and was carried over from the Republican era of George H.W. Bush.
Hillary Clinton has accused Barack Obama, her rival, for misrepresenting facts about her stance on the NAFTA issue in the course of his campaign. Obama has responded by saying that Bill Clinton did not merely pass the bill of the agreement, but took an active role in materializing it. He said that the Clintons can be held responsible for promoting the agreement that cost thousands of industry workers their jobs in Ohio.
Obama, however, has also stressed the fact that any attempt at repealing the agreement now would cause more job losses, and one should try to resolve the situation realistically. Clinton stressed that the interest of the American workers will be looked after before any other trade agreement is finalized.
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